Devices are known which turn flat articles such as letter envelopes, within a plane. These devices are required where envelopes are discharged from an inserter and are not properly oriented to be fed to a downstream device such as a franking machine. An inserter is a machine that inserts selected items in an envelope for further processing. The filled envelope is sealed and then conveyed to a franking machine to have postage imprinted thereon. Generally, turner devices have the disadvantage of having to be an integral part of the inserting machine.
Examples of devices which turn flat articles in inserting machines are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,461 issued Feb. 23, 1988 to J. Pokrinchak and U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,807 issued May 29, 1990 to D. Auerbach, both of which patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
It is known to change the direction of travel for flat articles without changing the orientation of the articles, i.e., without rotating or turning the articles. It is also known that for a one stage right angle change in direction the articles must be stopped in one direction before being conveyed in the right angled direction. Such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,374 issued Mar. 20, 1990 to M. Skrypalle and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
It is also known that a right angle change of direction for flat articles can be achieved in two or more stages by the use of deflection rollers which change the direction of travel by forty-five degrees (45.degree.) or less at each stage. Such an apparatus and method used in a sorting machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,792 issued Jul. 9, 1985 to G. Burkhardt. The Burkhardt apparatus has several limitations which prevent it from being usable in an inserting machine. The apparatus is limited to changing direction of travel from a path parallel to a long edge of the mailpiece to a path of travel parallel to the short edge thereof. Furthermore, for all sized mailpieces, the Burkhardt apparatus requires a side-justified line of travel along the first direction of travel so that the deflection rollers can engage the article at the right moment to achieve an accurate change in direction. Typically, in an inserter, the center line of travel of the mailpiece is fixed with the side guides being adjustable for handling various sized mailpieces.
Several improvements in the throughput of various upstream modules (such as feeders, accumulators and insert stations) have raised the expectation that the output of inserting machine would keep up with such improvements. However, when the output was increased on inserters that included conventional turner devices, problems were experienced because the turner devices were unable to reliably maintain the increased output rate. For example, inserts were flying out of envelopes before the flap could be closed. Also, turner components were malfunctioning more frequently.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,154, issued on Jan. 19, 1993 to S. Malick and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a method and apparatus is disclosed for a right angle transfer device for conveying flat articles. The apparatus includes a deck having a first side for receiving an article from a first direction and a second direction which forms an acute angle equal to or less than forty-five degrees (45.degree.) with the first direction. There is a structure which includes a plurality of angled roller pairs for conveying the article over the deck in the second direction. The conveying structure engages a leading edge of the article only after the article has been disengaged by a conveying structure in the first direction. There is a registration wall positioned downstream from the second direction conveying structure adjacent a third side of the deck. The registration wall extends a third direction whereby the registration wall is at a right angle to the first direction, wherein the leading edge of the article is driven against the registration wall after the article has been disengaged by the second direction conveying structure. There is a structure for conveying the article in the third direction after the article is against said registration wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,159, issued on Jan. 19, 1993 to S. Malick and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, provides an adjustable right angle transfer apparatus for conveying flat articles in one of two directions. The apparatus is similar to the Malick '154 apparatus but the angled roller pairs for conveying in a second direction are mounted on a circular deck that can be rotated to position the rollers for conveying forty-five degrees to the left or to the right.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 732,862, filed on Jul. 19, 1991 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a method and apparatus is disclosed for aligning while changing the direction of motion of flat articles being conveyed along a first path to a second path. The apparatus includes an adjustable registration wall in combination with an angled roller assembly that perform the dual function of conveying the article in the third direction and aligning the article against the registration wall. This apparatus when used with a right angle transfer device, such as in Malick '154 or '159, solved registration problems, such as the article crashing into the registration wall and rebounding away from the wall while being conveyed at high speed in the third direction.
The foregoing apparatus are configured for handling documents of a particular size, such as envelopes or sheets of paper. Although the foregoing apparatus works well for handling single size documents, they lack adjustment capability needed for handling multiple size documents. Typically, the foregoing apparatus requires the addition or removal of rollers angled at 45.degree. when the apparatus is used to handle larger or smaller documents respectively. Furthermore, the foregoing apparatus do not include a path for straight through processing in the third direction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a transport apparatus for changing the direction of motion of any size document.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a transport apparatus that can transport documents from either of two inputs sections to a single output section.